Washington, DC--Columbia Theological Seminary's William Brown, the William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament, will present a paper at the AAAS 2016 Annual Meeting on "Theological Reasons for Protecting Biodiversity." The talk will be presented on Saturday, February 13, 2016 at 10:00 AM-11:30 AM at the Marriott Wardman Park. Prof. Brown will present how Columbia Seminary is cultivating a love for biodiversity among religious leaders through the help of the AAAS "Science for Seminaries" program.

"Due to the impact of human activity, the irreversible loss of biodiversity is well underway," Prof. Brown stated. "Yet the crisis remains underappreciated by people of religious faith. The challenge for institutions that prepare future faith-leaders is to develop theological grounding for the value of biodiversity and its importance for humanity."

In addition to his work at Columbia Seminary, Prof. Brown serves as a Board member of the Ring Lake Ranch in Dubois, WY, and as an educator for Georgia Interfaith Power and Light (GIPL). His recent books include The Seven Pillars of Creation: Bible, Science, and the Ecology of Wonder (Oxford University) and Wisdom's Wonder (Wm. B. Eerdmans).

Columbia Theological Seminary is one of ten Christian Seminaries part of a pilot program by AAAS for integrating science into core theological curricula. Grants totaling $1.5 million were awarded to the schools for integrating science into the curriculum for at least two core theological courses (such as those in systematic theology, biblical studies, church history, and pastoral theology) over the next two years. This integrated approach will bring science into the core of seminary theological education, impacting individual seminaries as well as the ministries in which graduates serve. Resources from the project will be made available to interested seminaries as the project unfolds, some of which will be archived online at http://www.ScienceforSeminaries.org.

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The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world's largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science as well as Science Translational Medicine, Science Signaling, and a digital, open-access journal, Science Advances. AAAS was founded in 1848 and includes nearly 250 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world. The non-profit AAAS is open to all and fulfills its mission to "advance science and serve society" through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education, public engagement, and more. For the latest research news, log onto EurekAlert!, www.eurekalert.org, the premier science-news Web site, a service of AAAS. See www.aaas.org.

Columbia Theological Seminary is committed to "educating imaginative, resilient leaders for God's changing world." As an educational institution of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Columbia is a community of theological inquiry and formation for ministry in the service of the Church of Jesus Christ. Columbia offers seven graduate degree programs and dozens of courses and events as a resource for church professionals and lay people through the Center for Lifelong Learning. For more information about Columbia Theological Seminary, please visit http://www.ctsnet.edu.

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